Home sweet home for perfect City

AGENCIESDec 16, 2007, 10.30am IST

LONDON: Manchester City maintained their perfect home record this season as they moved into the top four of the Premier League with a 4-2 win against Bolton.

City's ninth league win at Eastlands yesterday saw them leapfrog Liverpool into fourth spot ahead of today's clashes between the 'Big Four' when leaders Arsenal face third-placed Chelsea while Liverpool take on Manchester United.

Portsmouth missed the chance to go fourth themselves as Tottenham's 1-0 win at Fratton Park gave Spurs their first away league victory of the season.

At the bottom of the table, Wigan ended a run of 14 matches without a win with a 5-3 victory over Blackburn, Marcus Bent scoring a hat-trick as did Rovers' Roque Santa Cruz.

Manchester City went ahead in the seventh minute through Rolando Bianchi before El-Hadji Diouf levelled in the 31st minute.

Bolton took the lead when Kevin Nolan turned in Ricardo Gardner's pull-back.

City drew level in the 48th minute when Lubomir Michalik headed into his own net and they were back in front when England forward Darius Vassell scored in the 77th minute. Kelvin Etuhu's last-minute goal sealed City's victory.

"When the players came in at half-time, I told them that they looked like losers," said City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"But they were much better in the second-half and they deserved to win the game."

Wigan were 2-0 up inside 13 minutes at the JJB stadium through Denny Landzaat and Bent.